


Say It Again For Me

by ViciousRhythm



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Love Confessions, Morning After, awkward love confessions if we're being specific
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 06:33:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8738467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViciousRhythm/pseuds/ViciousRhythm
Summary: Percy is the first to wake up the morning after a drunken hook up with Vex, and proceeds to deal with it about as well as he can. Which is not that well at all. It turns out pretty okay anyway.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was not the first perc'ahlia fic I planned on publishing, but it was the one that got written fastest, so here we are. I have no idea if I've done any sort of justice to the characters as I've never written for this fandom and consumed the entire show too fast, but here's hoping!

They agreed long ago that a large amount of alcohol and one night should be good enough for anyone, but Percy swears himself awake and knows instantly that he’s fucking wrong. It’s a feeling he knows well. Intimately, one might say. It also grows to something uncomfortably tender in his chest when he manages to make his head stop pounding for a moment and Vex is still there, asleep in a decidedly unattractive sprawl across half his bed. It feels like a bruise taking in the sight of her bare shoulders uncovered by the twisted sheet and her open mouth allowing almost-snores to escape. She’s drooled a small puddle onto the pillow. He still thinks she’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.

_That_ thought is too much, so Percy exits his bed as carefully as he can and makes it into the bathroom before he can botch the situation entirely, snatching underwear and sweats on his way. Staring back at him in the mirror when he gets there is…not a pretty sight. It’s extraordinarily clear Percy drank exactly as much as he’d ever expected he’d need to work up the courage to – Well. Do what he’d done. With Vex. Who is asleep in his bed for who knows how long, with who knows how clear a memory of last night.

_Fuck it_ , he decides eventually. He can splash some water on his face, brush his teeth and tame his hair a bit, but it’s not as if Vex is in any better state than him, and they’ve seen each other wasted and half-dressed and any combination of pitiful before anyway. Percy tells himself this, but he doesn’t manage to make himself go back to the bedroom. He diverts to the kitchen instead in search of caffeine and Advil.

Both are fairly easy to come by, the first in the form of the world’s noisiest coffee maker and the second at the back of his silverware drawer. Popping four into his mouth, Percy swallows both the pills and as much of his anxiety as he can. All in all it isn’t much. He still has a delightful headache and his hands shake enough he has to put them on the counter and pretend they aren't proof of how nervous he is. Vex is still ostensibly asleep and Percy isn't certain what the best next step is in dealing with this situation. Given the way his ancient coffee maker bubbles and hisses like some sort of steam-engine, there’s a fair chance Vex will wake up without any prompting from him, and Percy can’t decide if that’s the preferable outcome.

On the one hand, Vex would have the dignity of waking up without a witness to whatever state she’s in after last night. And Percy could probably dodge having to be the first to say anything. On the other hand, it might be nice to be awoken by a friendly face, especially one with coffee and painkillers. And, selfishly, Percy wants to find out what Vex looks like waking up in his bed.

Disgusted with himself for the thought, but self-serving enough to pursue it, Percy fixes two cups of coffee – one black and heavily sugared, the other nearly caramel-colored with all the cream in it – and marches back to his bedroom. He’s never found the hallway particularly intimidating before now.

Vex is still sleeping soundly when Percy nudges the door open fully with his foot, though she’s moved a bit. Evidently, Vex is a liquid matter, filling up all space as soon as it becomes available. Percy’s bed isn’t small by any means, so the fact that a woman of her size can make it look as though he’d have to fight for a space to sit is frankly impressive. He does find enough room after some strategic placement of limbs, mugs, and bed covers, and leans over to jostle Vex’s shoulder.

She grumbles, nuzzling her face sideways into the pillow as her arms come up to hold tightly onto it, then sighs and appears to sink right back into heavy sleep. Percy frowns, says her name, and gets no response at all. The combination of physical and auditory prompting fails as well, and Percy has the fleeting thought that maybe he should just kiss her awake. She is, after all, mostly if not completely naked in his bed, and her mouth looks as soft and tempting as ever, despite her messy sleeping habits. But that kind of thing is for people who are in relationships of some romantic sort, not for…whatever they are now. Friends. Yes. That, at least.

“Vex.” He says her name as flatly as possible, a little snappish, a little fond, in his best impression of Vax, and it miraculously works. Vex’s head pops up suddenly, blinking slow and squinting at the daylight. Percy can see the moment she figures out she isn’t in her bed from the confused tip of her mouth and the moment her headache catches up from the way she groans and puts her head back down.

“Good morning,” Percy says, not proud of how stiff he sounds but entirely unable to do anything about it. “I brought coffee and Advil.”

“And god bless you for it,” Vex says into the pillow. It takes another few seconds for her to reemerge and roll over, taking the sheet with her to cover her chest. Percy simultaneously blesses and curses his choice of navy blue sheets. He’s not sure what he’d do if they were light enough to see any more than he can as it is.

In the careful, methodical way of the truly hung over, Vex gets herself seated upright and makes grabbing hands in the general direction of the promised items. Percy hands them over silently and does his best not to be awkward watching her. How did he do this before? He’s certain they’ve managed to hold conversations and consume beverages in each other’s company before without him feeling as though he’ll open his mouth and offend Vex horribly and eternally.

“You can stop acting like something’s about to catch fire,” Vex says when she’s drained half the coffee and knocked back her own handful of pills. “I promise we’re still friends.”

Percy lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding with a huff of laughter. It’s not that he was worried, it just that he was definitely worried.

“Well thank goodness for that.”

“Indeed,” Vex agrees, her ease belied by the way Percy can see her shoulders relax at his response. “You did bring me this, after all. What else are friends for?”

She salutes him with her mug, prompting Percy to lift his own and clink the ceramic together in a poor impression of a toast.

“Besides a very good lay, thanks for that, too.”

Percy chokes on his coffee, barely getting it down before coughing away the accidental attempt to inhale. Vex laughs at him, loud enough to make them both wince, stopping her laughter short while Vex scrunches up her face as if trying to will away what Percy knows is a pounding headache.

“Let’s maybe not get quite so wasted next time, yeah?” Vex is talking into her mug, drinking slowly, and Percy isn’t sure if that’s the offer he thinks it is, or if it’s just wishful thinking. Probably best to go with the safe route. They had, after all, agreed that a one night stand to blow off steam should serve well enough for anyone. And that’s what this could be. A disappointingly fuzzy one night stand that Percy will try his damnedest to recall every detail of and never speak of if Vex wishes it.

“I think that’s wise,” Percy says diplomatically, not committing to anything lest it blow up in his face. “Though you’ll have a time of it convincing Grog and Pike to cut down on the alcohol next time we go out.” He’s not fishing for clarification, really, except that he sort of is.

Vex hums an acknowledgment and asks if it’s alright to use his shower, and Percy lets the subject go. He doesn’t think about her in the shower, instead setting his attention to righting his bedroom. They weren’t especially careful in making their way to his bed last night, if the trail of destruction is anything to go by. There are of course articles of clothing belonging to both of them in unexpected places, the most baffling of which comes in the form of a single sock placed delicately over the top of the bedroom door, which Percy finds after realizing it won’t shut all the way. He has to venture out into the living room to locate Vex’s jacket, certain that she had one at the beginning of the night. It’s draped haphazardly across the arm of the couch, and Percy has a short but vivid flashback to some of the last night’s activities.

Specifically, he remembers slamming the front door shut behind him and Vex shushing him through giggles. He remembers she put her finger to his lips and he’d opened his mouth to let her finger slip inside and over his tongue. Vex had bitten her own lip and retrieved her hand to tug him closer, slamming into him for a kiss that was violently enthusiastic from both parties. He’d found the coordination to walk backward, Percy recalls, just long enough to fall onto his ass on the couch and tug Vex down into his lap.

That’s where she’d shrugged out of her jacket, he thinks, swallowing hard. The rest of the memory flickers like static on a television, only bits and pieces but not enough to make out the details. Just enough to know they made it to his room, supported by the evidence left by the trail of clothing now collected in Percy’s arms. From their location, he can only assume he became impatient and relieved Vex of her jeans outside the bedroom, though her shirt made it all the way to the bed.

His train of thought is cut short by the sound of the shower shutting off, so Percy grabs Vex’s jacket and retreats to sort out their clothing to return Vex’s to her. She cracks the bathroom door open before he’s finished, sticking her head out into the hallway.

“Percy, darling?”

“Yes?” Percy leans far enough to see out of his bedroom and across the hall to where Vex’s head and shoulders are visible around the bathroom door, dark hair dripping onto the hardwood floor.

“Do you think I could borrow a shirt?” She grimaces. “I distinctly remember spilling something on myself before we left the bar, and I’d rather smell as little like a brewery as possible. Vax is already going to give me hell regardless.”

Percy has already crossed the room by the time she finishes speaking, rifling through his dresser for something acceptable.

“Trade you?” he says over his shoulder. “Your clothes are in here and I’ve yet to take a shower myself.”

“Sounds like a deal,” Vex says from much closer than Percy was expecting. She’s already in his room, wrapped in possibly the largest towel he owns and still dripping steadily onto the floor. “Now shoo.”

“Yes, dear,” Percy says automatically as she flicks her fingers at him. No sense in stopping their mutual habit of using pet names with each other, he tells himself as he closes the bathroom door behind himself. It’s fine, they’ll be fine.

He has himself convinced that things will go back to normal by the time he’s done rinsing off stale sweat and other…reminders. People have casual sex all the time. Percy’s sure people even have casual sex with those they’re half-convinced they’re in love with. It must have happened before, and it probably didn’t end in tragedy. Percy is, of course, more prone to tragedy than most, but he’s also very clever, and if he heads things off at the pass, all should be well.

They’ll just talk about this like rational adults, Percy thinks, stepping out of the shower, and that is, obviously, when another key moment from last night comes to him, nearly making him stumble.

“Don’t you think, mm, should we talk about -” Vex cut herself off with a moan, either more theatrical for his ego or less inhibited due to the generous application of alcohol. A stupid time to want to talk, Percy thought, maybe a bit giddy. He’d dreamed about this, about getting to put his hands and mouth on Vex’s body. Preoccupied with mapping the contours of her breasts and stomach, Percy found there was little he wanted to do less than _talk_.

Rather than attempt to make any rational argument on the subject, Percy did what had served him well so far that night. Namely, he stopped thinking so hard and kissed Vex. From her surprised noise, she didn’t expect him to move back up her body quite that fast, and to be honest, it left him a bit dizzy, but it was worth it. Vex’s little inhale melted into a pleased rumble, her hands coming up to bury in his hair again. Percy left his own where they were, one fallen into the crease of her thigh, the other cupped over her chest, thumb brushing her nipple in a mindless pattern.

Vex squirmed, shifted her legs open and Percy let his hand fall between them, the press of his fingers inspiring a much more heartfelt gasp that broke their kiss. He paused to mouth at her jawline, suck a kiss where he could feel her pulse beating, and stayed when Vex’s hands in his hair trapped him against her.

“We’ll talk later,” he said, mouth nearly against her ear, and thoughts of more interesting places for his mouth on his mind. Vex nodded, loosened her grip, and then tightened it again when Percy got to his intended destination, meeting his hand between her thighs.

“Oh shit, _Percy._ ”

He blinks water out of his eyes, taken back to the present and torn between the warmth in his belly and a cold curl of guilt. They should have talked. While he was just as inebriated as Vex, and from what he can remember it seems they both had a good time, Percy should have listened when she tried to pause. Mildly disgusted with himself, he finishes drying off, dressing in the bathroom in a new pair of jeans and clean shirt. He’ll drop Vex off at home and spend some quality time working today to get his head on straight, so there’s no point in dressing in anything nicer than work clothes.

Vex is perched on the foot of his bed when Percy steps out of the bathroom, wearing a shirt of his that’s a size too big and her hair braided once more. She stops toying with the end of the braid as Percy crosses to dump his own clothes from last night into the hamper.

“How much do you remember?” Vex blurts while his back is still turned to her. Percy gives her a quizzical look. “I know you don’t have the best drunk memory, so I was wondering.”

She flicks her braid over her shoulder with a twist of her neck that jogs yet another memory, this one much shorter. Percy can’t remember how they got there, but Vex was settled above him, her hands on his chest for leverage and the same angle to her shoulders as she tossed her hair out of her way. He’s not sure if it was the end of a very long night or the first time, but Vex was panting, beautiful and too much for him. Percy sat up when he came, clutching Vex to him with an unclassifiable noise and grateful when her arms wound around him just as tightly, rocking against his hips and sighing in a deep satisfaction.

“I love you,” she said, barely more than a breath, as though it cost her to give up the confession.

And Vex sits there, covering her nerves well but not well enough while she waits for Percy to tell her what he remembers from the night before. He could tell her he doesn’t remember much, but he remembers enough. He could pretend to remember nothing and see where they go from here, keep his knowledge like a weapon to be used at greatest advantage going forward. These would be reasonable thoughts to have. However, Percy does not think about his response, which is why it comes out sounding so pitiful and, frankly, confusing.

“You said you – I do as well.” Vex blinks, and Percy realizes she doesn’t actually live inside his head and has no idea what he’s babbling about. “Love you. I love you as well.”

When Vex doesn’t say anything, Percy damns himself for speaking without thinking, because it always manages to get him into the kind of trouble he can’t clever his way out of.

“You said you did last night,” he goes on a bit weakly. “Love me, that is.” But then, that could have been just a moment of passion, and if Percy had kept his damn mouth shut, Vex wouldn’t have to gently explain away speaking foolishly in the heat of the moment. He wouldn’t have to watch her pity him for harboring one-sided feelings exacerbated by a night of clearly inadvisable sex.

Before he can let that train of thought drag down any further, Vex stands, takes the one step necessary to reach him, and wraps her hand around the back of his neck. She doesn’t kiss him like Percy is hoping she will, but instead rests his forehead against hers, eyes closing. It might be relief on her face, but Percy might be projecting.

“I do, you idiot man,” Vex says, allowing Percy to breathe properly again. “And you owe me a conversation later.”

Then she does kiss him, tilting just enough to allow their mouths to slide together when she goes on tiptoe. Percy leans down to meet her, hands resting like nervous birds on her hips until Vex parts her lips, swipes her tongue at the seam of his mouth, and bites, drawing a helpless noise from him. His hands grip tighter at that, to Vex’s approval if her self-satisfied little hum is any indicator. Percy wonders a bit distantly how long they can find ways to put off ‘later’ and finds himself looking forward to finding out.


End file.
